Motor vehicle



10. 1940. r-FoRD namo-F. vsHIcLE 'Filed Nov.V l. 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 WW W Sept. 10. 1940.

H. zr-:O'Rp IIOTOB VEHICLE mea Nov.

3 sheets-shut 3 commercially adapted only to the differential mentes Sept. ic, iate MOTOR Henry Ford, Dearborn,

Motor Company,

tion of Delaware claims.

vantageous only eight is the car. wheel suspensions have been front or steervehicles with the result that only Weight of the front axle is elimiof these iront proves the fore, independent ing wheels of the unsprung The unsprung portions type of front axle so when used only in connection with wheels. The vehicle rear axle comprises a housing, a differential, driving axle shafts, which together weigh many much as the conventional front axle. Consequently a proportionately greater improvement in the riding qualities of the car can be made by independently springing the rear wheels. It is therefore the object of my invention to provide independent springing for the rear or driving wheels of a Vehicle.

However, a rear wheel Suspension is complicated by reason of the rear wheels which necessitates providing universal j each side of the differential through which In all former to the applicant, four each side of housing and one Telescopic axle like constructions known universal joints were required, one on the differential and driving gear adjacent to each rear wheel. shafts between these joints. As constructions were extremely costly, were subject b'acklash, and were which more than ofiset the ties produced thereby.

A further object of m invention is therefore to provide an independently sprung rear driving axle construction wherein only two universal joints are required and wherein no telescopic shafts are used Speciflcally, my invention comprises means for swinging the rear wheels vertically around the housing and also producing a toe-in and toe-out to the driving wheels respectively below and above the vertical centerdifferential. In this way scuiiing of line of the the tires is prevented so that normal tire life is former types of two obtained, whereas with all universal Dearborn,

being driven,

joint constructions known to applicant,.

VEHICLE Mich., assignor to Ford Mich.

(OL lim-'13) a corporal- Appiication November- 1, 1937, sei-iai No. 112,101

the tire life was so short that the constructions were impractical.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, construction and combination of the various parts of proved device, as

`ilaimed in my imdescribed in the speciflcation, my claims andl illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 my improved vehicle chassis.

Figure 2 portion of taken on the line i is a plan view of the rear is a sectional view,

2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 in Figure 1 Figure 4 is an end view of the chassis shown is a diagrammatic end view, illustrating the positions of 'the Vehicle wheels when the chassis is Figure ing the po unloaded Figure 6 loaded to its extreme 5 is a diagrammatic end view,

position.

illustratsitions of the wheels with the chassis 2o is a diagrammatic plan view of one of the rear wheels when the Vehicle chassis is une 'I is wheel when in wheels with the a diagrammatic end view of the the position shown in Figur 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of one of chassis loaded intermediate or running load.

diagrammatic end view of the con- 8o struction shown m Figure lOfis of the rear wheels with maximum Figure gure a diagrammatic plan viewof one the chassis loaded to its capacity.

11 is a diagrammatic end view of the Figure 10, and

illustrating the three longitudinal positions of each rear wheel produced respectively and maximum loa Referrin have used an axle ring point upon laterally across fixedly secured forwardly From the torque tube the center cured together as a uni is adapted by no load, running load, d on the chassis.

g to the accompanying drawings, I 4 the reference numeral |2 to indicate gear and different housing. A tubu- I3 is supported at its l2 and extends to the engine of the vehicle. I'have transverse spring |5 with its ed to the housing I2.V 5

it will be noted that the foregoing,

t4, housing IZ, cross member I3, and portion of spring I5 are all flxedly se- The body of the vehicle to be supported directly upon the outer ends of the cross member E3 so that the body, torque tube, differential housing and cross member are all supported by the spring l.

Axle tubes t6 extend laterally from each side of the housing I 2, Which tubes are mounted upon ing wheels.

It will be noted that the spring I5 extends laterally from each The axle tubes are mounted upon the ball members 33 so that the wheels must oscillate centers of these balls as the spring To prevent undue oscillation of the tire scufling is prevented.

Before describing 'the means vided for preventing scufling lof the tires, it may 60\be well to briefiy describe the reason that tires used will cause excessive tire wear. Referring to Figure 4, it will capacity, the load shown in Figure nearer the ground positioning but the simple which I have probe seen/that when portions of the wheels are at this time tipped inwardly a true rolling action can ordinarily be obtained with an inthe wheel is forced to go in a The applicant proposes to compensatefor this tendency by giving the Wheels normally take and The toe-out is just to roll in a tangen- There are many ways of accomplishing such device shown herein is believed to operate as efliciently.

It will be noted from the position of the-left chassis frame .unloaded so 30 are elevated a distance the wheel centers so -rotate around the shown by line 32. When the chassis is unloaded, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the point 3| swings downwardly and forwardly to the position shown in Figure 6. Point 9| is then spaced forwardly a distance z ahead of the transverse center line through the point 29. Thus the axle tube IG is swung forwardly around the point 29. This produces a toe-in for the wheel to the same extent that would be produced were the axle tube IB to be moved in a flat plane around the point 29 a similar distance z. This toe-in is just suflicient to counteract the tendency of the wheel to point 21 and to make it track in a straight hne.

'Y When the car is normally loaded, the points 29 and 30' are pressed down a distance y or until the axle tubes are 1evel. In this case the point 3| is moved rearwardly along the path 32 until the axle tubes IG are exactly in a lateral position relative to the difierential housing. In this case neither toe-in nor toe-out of the wheel is required, so that in this position the axle functions' exactly as the conventional axle construction. However, when the Vehicle is loaded to its capacity, the point 29 is moved a distance m beneath the normal horizontal line through that the left hand axle tube IS i's inclined in a direction opposite to that shown in Figure '7. When the wheel is in this position, the point 3| is moved still further along the path 32 so that it is spaced rearwardly from the lateral center line through the the distance m. This tends to swing the wheel rearwardly around the center 29 to produce the desired toe-out.

Referring to Figurev 12, I have shown by dot and dash lines the forward position of the wheel when the chassis is under no load. When the chassis is loaded to its normal amount, the position of the wheels is shown by solid lines and when the chassis .is fully loaded to its maximum capacity, the position of the wheels. and center points are shown by dotted lines. Each rear wheel, therefore, in effect moves forwardly and rearwardly around the centers 29, as the load of the car is varied. It should be kept `in mind that in this speciflcation the movement of the wheels is described solely as a result of loading of the wheel and4 one-half the chassis. It should also be kept in mind that the movement is identical when the wheel oscillates due to its travel over rough roads.

Among the many advantages arising from the use of my improved construction, it may be well to mention that I have provided an independently sprung driving axle construction wherein only one universal joint is provided for each wheel and which incorporates the relatively rigid radius rod and axle tube construction. The construction wherein the 'radius rod, anchor plate and axle tube are all rigidly flxed together has proved itself to be much Vstronger for a given weight than is possible where a universal joint is provided adjaent to each wheel.

VStill a further advantage of my improved construction is that the unsprung parts of the suspension are extremely light, considering the strength provided, and consist only of the weight the Weight of the radius rods 22, axle and axle tubes. The major portion of the spring |2 is sprung weight, and the differential housing, torque tube and cross member are likewise sprung weight.

Still a further advantage of my improved construction is that the wheels are particularly redifferential sistant to braking loads and all otherloads tending to move the wheels fore or aft.

Some changes may be made in the arrangement, construction, and combination of the various parts of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my invention, and it is my intention to coVer by -my claims such changes as may reasonably be included within the scope thereof.

I' claim as my invention:

1. A wheel Suspension for motor Vehicles comprising, a differential driving gear unit fixedly mounted in said Vehicle at the rear central portion thereof, axle tubes projecting laterally from opposite sides of said unit, said tubes being secured by oscillating joints with said unit, a bracket flxed in said Vehicle forwardly and upwardly from said unit, and radius rods each having one end pivotally secured to said bracket,

- said rods extending rearwardly and outwardly in opposite directions to the outer ends of said axle tubes to which they are secured, so that said radius rods andvadjacent axle tubes form two independent un'ts which may swing around parallel axes which extendl upwardly from theA rear end of said Vehicle, for the purpose described.

2. A wheel Suspension for motor Vehicles comprising, a differential driving gear unit fixedIy mounted in said Vehicle at the rear central por- 'tion thereof, axle tubes projecting from the respective sides of said unit, said tubes being secured by ball joints to said unit, a torque tube extending forwardly from said unit to which it ,is flxedly secured, said torque tube having a bracket afilxed thereto which extends upwardly therefrom, radius rods pivotally secured to the upper end of said bracket, said rods extending diagonally and rearwardly and outwardly from said bracket to the free ends of said axle tubes to which they are secured so that each radius rod and adjacent axle tube may pivot as a unit around a longitudinal extending axis, said axes being parallelto each other and extending upwardly from the rear end of said Vehicle, and a transverse spring having its central portion aflixed to'said differential gear unit and with its ends extending outwardly where theyv are secured to the outer ends of the axletubes, respectively.

3. A wheel Suspension for a motor Vehicle comprising, a differential driving gear unit fixed at the center rear portion of said Vehicle, a torque tube flxed to and extending forwardly from said unit, a pair of axle tubes extending laterally from opposite sides of said differential driving gear unit, said tubes being connected with said driving` gear unit soA that their outer ends may swing both Vertically and horizontally, relative thereto, a bracket secured to said torque tube forwardly of said driving gear unit, which bracket extends to position above said torque tube, and radius rods extending from said bracketto the ends of saidv axle tubes respectively, the inner ends of said radius rods being pivotally secured to said bracket and the outer ends thereof fixedly secured to said axle tubes so that said radius rods and adjacent axle tubes form two independent units which may swing around parallel axes which extend upwardly from the rear end of said Vehicle, for the purpose described.

4. A wheel Suspension for motor Vehicles comprising; a diiferential driving gear unit flxedly mounted in said Vehicle at the rear central portionthereof, axle tubes secured for universal movement to the respective sides ofsaid housing so that their free ends may swing both vertically tion thereof, axle tubes projecting laterally from and horizontally relative thereto, a. torque tube opposite sides of said unit, said tubes being seextending forwardly from said difierential drivcured by oscillating joints with said unit, a ing gear unit, a. bracket secured to said torque bracket fixed in said Vehicle forwardly and uptube which bracket projects upwardly therefrom, wardly from said unit, radius rods each having 5 radius rods having their inner ends pivotally one end pivotally secured to said bracket, said .mounted in said bracket with their other ends rods extendihg erarwardly and `outwardly in opextending respectively to the outer ends of said posite directions to the outer ends of said axle axle tubes to which they are fixedly secured, and tubes to Which they are secured so that said rods a transverse spring having its ends secured to and adjacent axle tubes form two independent 10 the outer ends of said axle tubes and with its members which may swing around parallel axes, central. portion secured to said driving gear unit which axes extend upwardly from the rear of the so that said radius rods and adjacent axle tubes Vehicle, and a transversely extending laf spring form .two independent units which may` swing having its center portidn fixed to said unit in .around parallel axes which extend upwardly from such position that its ends flex inl a plane per- 16 the rear end of said Vehicle, for the purpose pendicular to the plane of said axes, the ends of 1 `described. said spring being secured to the outer ends of 5. A Wheel Suspension for motor Vehicles comsaid axle tubes, respectively. iprising, a diiferential driving gear unit' fixedly mounted in said Vehicle at the rear central por- HENRY FORD. 

